


What Am I Protecting Again?

by Rosela978



Category: GOT7
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-22
Updated: 2016-08-22
Packaged: 2018-06-09 22:05:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6925168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosela978/pseuds/Rosela978
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When BamBam and his quiet cousin, Mark, move to Korea, they meet a group who is more than happy to befriend them. Soon they learn of Mark's quiet nature and how he doesn't let anyone close to him, not even his own cousin. They also come to find out that he's holding something truly terrible and heartbreaking within him and want to help. But how can they if he feels he doesn't need their help?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. BamBam

I wasn’t too sure if this was a good idea. I mean, I know it’s been over 5 years, and we’ve gotten closer, but I don’t think he’s ready to go to school with me yet… let alone move to a different country and go to school there! To be honest, I don’t think he would ever be ready. I’ve talked to him about it, but he just brushes my concerns away and starts talking about other things. Whenever I ask him about how he’s feeling or if he needs anyone to talk to, he always changes the subject.

He knows I can read him like an open book now, but he always pushes me away.

“Mark?” I ask as I watch him get his school supplies ready. I was leaning against his doorframe, my arms crossed. “Are you absolutely sure you want to do this?”

He looks at me with a blank expression. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

I roll my eyes. “I know I’m sure with moving to a new place and going to a different school to help you out, but I don’t want you to push yourself.”

“I’m not.” He goes back to putting notebooks and binders in his backpack. “Shouldn’t you be more concerned about leaving your friends?”

What friends? Ever since I started helping my parents when I was 7, I learned not to have any friends. “No, I’m ok. There’s no one that I’m truly close with… well, except you. That’s why I moved with you.”

He doesn’t react to what I said and clears his throat. “Won’t your parents miss you?”

“I’m sure they will…” I was reminded of their tearful goodbyes and promises of the future. They said this was the best option for me as well as Mark, and I agreed until they said he should go back to school. “But you know this is part of what we do, and they don’t want me involved anymore for my sake. I know it’ll be hard, but we’ll see each other again.”

Mark nods and doesn’t say anything. I sigh as I walk to the bed he was sitting on and lean on his back after I sit down. “Are you sure you’re ready to go back to school?”

He still doesn’t respond.

“Do you want to hear my thoughts?” When he still doesn’t answer me, I pat his back as I continue. “I think that you should stay in homeschooling…” I sigh. “I’m worried for you, and moving to a different place, a different country, is scary even for me. So I don’t think you should start school here. Maybe I can stay with you and be homeschooled as well. It’s only for one year since this is your senior year…”

Mark stopped what he was doing, and I could feel through his movements that he turned his head to look at me. “We’re already here, Bam. No more homeschooling. I’ll be fine in a public school, ok?”

His tone was harsh, but I know it’s not how he wanted to say it. “If… If you say so.”

He returned to packing his school supplies and slightly pushes me when he was done. “Now, go get some sleep,” He says as I get up from the bed. “We have to be up at 6 tomorrow.”

I nod and head towards the door, but I stop right before I exit. “Lovely and round, I shine with pale light, grown in the darkness, a lady's delight. What am I?”

Only a second later did he reply, “A pearl.”

I smile and walk out of the room. No matter how far he pushes me away, he can never seem to resist to answer my riddles.

~

I wish Mark and I were in the same year so I could be with him. I didn’t know if he would be ok on his own. Will they treat him nicely? Will he treat them nicely? How will he act around his class? I hope he’ll be alright…

“Everyone, we have a new student joining us from Thailand,” The teacher says as I stand in front of the class. They all stopped their conversations to look at me, and I could feel my face flushing from the attention. I’m usually ok in front of crowds, but for some reason, I felt really embarrassed. “His name is Kun-” She stops to inspect my name on her roster a bit. Of course, I knew my name was complicated for foreigners to pronounce. “Ku…”

“Kunpimook Bhuwakul,” I say with a small smile. “I know it’s a very complicated name, so I ask for everyone to call me BamBam.”

A few of the students chuckle which the teacher quiets down. “Enough, please welcome him to our class and help him with any trouble he may have. I do have assigned seats, and yours is right next to Kim Yugyeom’s.”

A student raises his hand with the largest smile on his face. “I’m right here, BamBam!” He calls, waving his hand in the air as if I didn’t notice him yet. I couldn’t help but smile as I walk to the empty seat next to his and by the window.

“Yugyeom,” The teacher says which makes him bring his hand down and sit up straight. “I hope you won’t be a bad influence on Kunpimook.”

“Bad? Psh!” He waves his hand at her. I chuckle silently as I sit in my seat. “If you call my amazing charm and good humor bad, then I don’t know what you’ll do if you see me angry.”

I cover my mouth to keep from laughing as I glance over at Yugyeom who winks at me. The teacher then goes onto starting the lesson that I was already ahead in back at my school, and I sigh as I take out my notebook. A tap on my shoulder makes me look towards Yugyeom again, and he hands me a note. I give him a questioning look and take the note, him giving me a bright smile afterwards. _You’re from Thailand?_

I smile as I nod to him. He takes the paper from me and writes something else. _That’s pretty cool, and you already know Korean?_

I take out my pencil, writing slowly since I was still learning how to write Korean. _Speaking it, yes, but I’m still having a bit of trouble writing._

Yugyeom chuckles as he reads what I wrote. _You’re doing pretty well so far. Hey, why don’t you have lunch with me and my friends?_

I purse my lips. But what about Mark? I needed to make sure he was doing alright. I don’t even know if he would want to eat with other people. I’ll ask. _Sure, I’ll have to ask my cousin first if he wants to join._

_You’re cousin also moved here?_

I nod to him, and he smiled once again. I can get used to that smile. _We would love for him to join as well!_

Good. I had hoped we would do well here, and now I fully believe that we’ll be fine. Mark will be fine.


	2. Jinyoung

My phone vibrates once again in my pocket, and I know it was another text from who knows within my group of friends. I haven’t even checked which one has been texting me or what the texts have been about; I really just wanted to read in peace. That’s why I’m in the library, for crying out loud.

As I tune into my book, finally, I get at least 3 more texts before someone calls me. I groan and angrily take my phone out of my pocket, catching Jackson’s name on the ID before answering. “What?!” I hiss as quietly as I could.

“Wow, chill out, Princess!” Jackson’s annoying voice says before going into his annoying high pitched laugh. “We’ve been texting you the past 30 minutes, dude! You need to come to lunch for once and meet two new people who have just joined our awesome group. I mean, they are going to meet our umma sooner or later, right? The sooner the better.”

If only he could see the very annoyed and angry look I had on my face right now. “Since when did I agree with being the umma of the group?”

“Oh, since you helped Yugyeom when he had a broken leg, and you helped me through my recent break up…” I could feel my cheeks heating up. “You also helped Youngjae with his song when he was having trouble writing the lyrics, and you make sure that Jaebum-hyung stays in check with his temper, and you always make sure that we’re doing fine in school and that we always get food when we’re hungry and that we-”

“Ok, ok,” I interrupt before my face explodes from how hot it was. “I get it. I’ll be right over.”

“Alright! See you soon, Umma!”

~

As I walk to our circular table, I can see the two new people sitting between Yugyeom and Jackson. One was laughing along with their jokes, looking over at Yugyeom almost every second, and the other wasn’t even smiling as he just eats his food. I walk up to the table behind Jaebum, crossing my arms at how loud they were being. “Ok, I’m here,” I say over their laughter.

“Jinyoung-umma!!” Jackson exclaims, his arms stretched out for a hug. I only glare at him. “Aw, come on, don’t be like that!”

“Hyung!” Yugyeom and Youngjae both scream, getting up from their seats and hugging me on both sides. I huff out a breath as I try not to hug them back. It was hard since I’m a sucker for affection.

“Nice to see you join us, Jinyoung-ah,” Jaebum says and looks at the three of us with a smile. I raise an eyebrow at him.

“Will you two get off of me so I can introduce myself to our new friends and go back to the library.”

“Back to the library, hyung?” Yugyeom whines, hugging me closer and resting his head on my shoulder. Despite being a giant compared to all of us, he was still the baby maknae on the inside. “Why don’t you stay and have lunch with us?”

“Yeah, you always go off to that library!” Youngjae whines as well. “I never see you enough!”

I close my eyes and sigh. Try not to give in, Jinyoung! “Let go of me, both of you, please?”

After a few moments and after giving me more whines of disagreement, they finally let go, going back to their seats. I roll my shoulders and open my eyes to look at the one who was sitting next to Yugyeom. He had wide doe eyes and thick lips which made him look really young, younger than Yugyeom even. He was very skinny as well. He looked so fragile. I smile at him, happy to see him smile back. “I’m Park Jinyoung,” I say, bowing. “I’m sure Jackson has told you about me.”

“Yeah,” He replies, his eyes glinting with joy that made me want to hug him and kiss his cheek, oh he’s so cute! “Is it ok if I call you Umma?”

I sigh and glare at Jackson before nodding to the kid. “Of course.”

“Oh, so you let him call you Umma and not me?”

We both ignore Jackson as he introduces himself. “I’m Kunpimook, but since it’s such a long and hard name to pronounce, I like being called BamBam.”

BamBam… it suited him well. “Alright, BamBam-ah.” I smile as I look to the guy next to him who wasn’t smiling at all. I had to admit, he was gorgeous. He stared at me with his dark eyes that looked like they were staring into my soul. My breath just caught in my throat, and I couldn’t speak.

“Oh, Jinyoung-umma,” BamBam says, placing a hand on the handsome guy’s shoulder. “This is my cousin from America, Mark.”

I bow again and clear my throat. “Hello, I’m Jinyoung.”

“He’s older than you, Jinyoung-ah,” Jaebum says to me, reminding me to be respectful. I nod and smile to Mark.

“You’re from America, Mark-hyung?”

He only nods and looks down at his plate.

“We found out that he doesn’t talk much,” Jackson says. “But after a few days with us, he will be talking loudly in no time!”

I scoff. “After a few years with you guys, I’m still not loud.”

“Liar,” Jaebum says, taking a sip of his juice. I glare at him and hit the back of his head. “Hey!” He growls, putting the carton down. “Don’t hit your hyung!”

“Make room,” I reply as I sit next to him and Yugyeom.

“Yay!” Yugyeom exclaims, wrapping his arms around me again. “I’m so glad you’re going to stay with us! You should do this every day!”

I chuckle and place my hand on his arm. “Maybe I will, Yugyeom-ah.”

Youngjae reaches over from his seat next to Jaebum and grabs my shoulder. “Really, hyung?!”

I once again chuckle and also hold his hand. “Yes. I need to get to know BamBam and Mark-hyung after all.”

They all go back to talking and joking which I occasionally laugh to. The only one who wasn’t smiling or laughing though was Mark, and I was wondering why. He looked like he was thinking about something else that seemed… so sad. He had a very sad expression that was masked by an angry one. I only wondered one thing: would he ever smile and laugh despite what was going through his mind?


	3. Yugyeom

Oh my gosh, he’s smiling at me, what do I do, what do I do? He’s so cute! I can’t think of anything to say. What do I say?! Uh… Uh… “So, what do you do for fun?”

BamBam looks away in thought, his smile turning into a pout. Wow, he’s so cute. “Well, I like to dance.”

“Really?!” I yell, grabbing his wrist. “I do too! The whole group does actually. We meet up every Saturday to practice our routines. Well, everyone except Jinyoung-hyung practices. He likes to dance, but he tends to read instead.”

His eyes light up at the mention of our group. “You guys dance? For what? A club or something?”

I shake my head. “No, we just dance. Youngjae-ah, Jaebum-hyung and sometimes Jinyoung-hyung write music while Jaebum-hyung and I make up the dances. Jackson-hyung sometimes helps, and even though Jinyoung-hyung doesn’t like to admit it, he loves making dance routines. You should come by sometime and see if you would like to dance with us.”

He nods his head excitingly. “That would be amazing.”

I smile at him and blush once I realize I was still holding his wrist. I let go and clear my throat, hoping that he didn’t notice how I was being. He, however, smiles at me and reaches over to hold my hand. My cheeks felt hotter. “Um, does Mark-hyung dance?”

“Well,” BamBam says as he thinks once again. “I really don’t know.”

That caught my attention. How would he not know? “How long have you known him?”

“Over 5 years now…” BamBam gulps as he looks away. “It’s just… You know he doesn’t talk much. Even with me, he’s quiet. I don’t know much about him because of it.”

I knew Mark was quiet, but I would think after a year or so of knowing him, he would open up.

“That’s strange.” I look around the park we were currently hanging out in. We shared our last class of the day, and so, I asked him if he wanted to come to this park that was only a minute away from the school. I’m happy he agreed. I usually come here to practice dancing, but I decided that today was a good day to just relax.

“Not so strange to me,” BamBam says quietly, getting me out of my thoughts. I don’t say anything to that and scoot closer to him on the bench we were sitting on. He was staring off in the distance, lost in his thoughts. I wanted to do something to make him smile; his smile really was the brightest one I’ve ever seen, and I wanted to see it again.

So, I take out my phone and put on a random song, jumping up from the seat. BamBam looks at me confusingly as I start to warm up. “What are you doing?”

“Dancing.” I laugh as I actually move to the song. The song itself was a fast, light-spirited song, so I was just messing around, trying to make him laugh. When he smiles at me and giggles, I knew I succeeded. “Come on,” I say, reaching my hand to him.

“Come on… what?” He asked, looking around to see if anyone was watching.

“Dance with me.”

I bounce in place as I wait for him to respond, but with the way he was sinking into the seat, I figured he wouldn’t join me… yet. “Alright then… I’ll just dance by myself.” I step back, a frown on my face. “All alone.”

“That’s not gonna get me to dance with you.” He looks around again once I start dancing. “You’re being really silly, you know.”

“I know, now join me.” I hold out my hand again with a smile.

“No!”

I narrow my eyes at him. “Please, Bam?”

I catch a glimpse of a light blush on his face before he looked away. “No.”

“Bammie~” I coo, kneeling in front of him. “I really want to dance with you.”

He tries not to smile, but a smile makes its way across his face as he looks at me. The blush was still there. “You really want to?” I nod, and he giggles. “Then put on a song, and I’ll see if I want to dance to it.”

“Alright,” I reply, not getting up from my spot as I get my phone. I put on Fool by Epik High and stand up, holding my hand out again hopefully for the last time. He listens for a bit before taking my hand. I pull him off the bench and take a step away from him before dancing to the slow beat. He looked nervous as he starts following my lead.

He absolutely blew my mind away. He’s an amazing dancer, and I stopped right where I was, frozen in place as I watch him. He was in his own little world as he danced, not noticing I was watching. The lyrics to the song really hit close as I just stare.

 _I stand far away, hoping that you will turn around_  
_I’m frozen at this spot, like a fool_  
_I stand far away, if you turn, I stare at the ground_  
_I’m frozen at this spot_

How could he be so beautiful and amazing? Right at that moment, I realized that I was falling for him. Only a day with him, and I already like him. What do I do?


	4. Jaebum

“Mark-hyung doesn’t talk,” Youngjae says as we wait in line for our food. I hum in agreement. “I think it’s strange. You didn’t talk much when we first met, but you at least gave me a few words to work with. If you ask Mark-hyung something, he won’t say anything. BamBam-ah will be the one to answer.”

“Maybe he’s mute,” I answer, pulling him along as the line moves.

“Maybe…” He replies and holds my hand that was pulling him. “If that’s the case, then we shouldn’t push him to talk. Do you think that’s a good idea, hyung?”

Here we go again with his long statements and my short answers. “Yup.” We always seem to end up in this type of conversation.

“Yeah, I think so to.” He was silent for a bit, but for Youngjae, that’s never long. “Yugyeom-ah told me that he invited BamBam-ah to our Saturday dance practice. He says that he’s a really good dancer. Is that ok, hyung?”

“Yes,” I reply automatically. If BamBam wants to join, he can.

“Ok, he also said that Mark-hyung might come as well. I wonder if he dances as well… I wonder if he dances better than me…” Youngjae sighs. “All of you are better dancers than me.”

“Don’t say that.” I keep pulling him along through the line and give him his tray. “You’re a good dancer, Youngjae-ah.”

He pouts and starts getting his food. “Not as good as you or Yugyeom-ah or Jackson-hyung or Jinyoung-hyung… I’m pretty sure BamBam-ah will be better than me too.”

I sigh as I get my food and lead him towards the cashiers. “We each have a different dance style as well as singing style. There’s a certain song that you will be the best dancing to, and this goes for all of us. We’re all good dancers in our own way.”

He was quiet as we pay for our food and head towards our table. I don’t understand why he does this to himself. He’s a good dancer and an amazing singer; he’s really talented in songwriting and music producing. There’s so much that he can do that he can’t see himself, and that pains me. Youngjae is so precious, and he doesn’t let himself see that.

We sit in our spot, and I notice that everyone was here, even Jinyoung surprisingly. Then again, he did say that he wanted to get to know the two new members, and I really want to know them as well. BamBam seems good, and Yugyeom likes him, so I know he’s a good kid. Mark, on the other hand, is a mystery that I hope we can solve. If BamBam trusts him, then we should be able to as well. Speaking of which, Mark wasn’t here. Wonder why I didn’t notice this.

“Where’s Mark-hyung?” Youngjae asks.

BamBam sighs. “I don’t know. He texted me that he would be here a little late.”

“Oh…” We all wait for Youngjae to continue talking. “Is he mute, BamBam-ah?”

“What?”

“Is Mark-hyung mute?”

BamBam chuckles. “He’s not mute. He just doesn’t talk easily in front of people.”

Interesting. “Why not?” I ask.

“Well…” He sighs once again. “I don’t know, really… but!” He smiles, sitting up straight and slamming his hands on the table. That didn’t scare me, nope. “I know what will make him at least say something.”

Before we could ask what he means, Mark makes his presence known by placing his tray on the table and sitting down. BamBam then clears his throat. “I need help with this riddle,” He says with a smile. We were all confused. “Until I am measured, I am not known. Yet how you miss me, When I have flown. What am I?”

Measured, not known, miss me when flown? What? I look around at the group and see mostly confused expressions; Jinyoung had a thoughtful one. “Until I am measured?” He asked.

“Yup!” BamBam replies excitedly.

“I am not known… yet how you miss me…” Jinyoung looks like he was thinking harder. “When I have flown.”

“Come on! It’s easy!” BamBam chuckles.

“Only because you know the answer already!” Yugyeom whines.

“How are we supposed to get that?” I ask. I look over at Youngjae to see he was very confused. I shake my head and pat his shoulder.

“Yeah, that’s really hard,” Jackson says. “Can we get a hint?”

“Absolutely not!”

“No, wait, I can get this!” Jinyoung says, bringing his hand to his chin and thinking some more.

I completely forgot what the riddle was, so I just shrug and wait to see if anyone will answer. “Please, Bam~?” Yugyeom whines again. “One hint.”

“I said no hints!”

“But-”

“Time.”

A new voice silences everyone, and we all look to Mark who was looking past us so he wouldn’t make eye contact with anyone. “Wait… what?” Jackson asked in shock.

“Time. It’s the answer.”

I look to BamBam who was still smiling. “Yup, that’s correct.”

I was in shock. First, he actually spoke to answer the riddle, and second, he actually got the riddle correct. I wonder… “Mark, can you dance?” I ask him. He quickly looks to me before going back to not making eye contact and shrugs. “Has BamBam-ah asked you if you want to join us for our Saturday dance practice?”

He bites his lip and looks down, shaking his head. “Well,” Youngjae was the one to speak. “Do you want to, hyung?”

He shrugs again. “Yay!” BamBam exclaims, getting up from his seat and hugging Mark from behind. “I’m glad you said yes!”

Yes? Oh… BamBam knows his body language. That’s understandable since he said Mark barely speaks in general. At least now we know that his shrugs mean an agreement. This will help us understand him a bit more in the future.


	5. Jackson/Youngjae

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: a few things, this chapter has two points of views because both were too short to put in a single chapter, and I don't know how money works in Korea, so I used US dollars instead. ok, and I felt that this chapter was a little rushed, I'm sorry for that! The next chapters will be longer and paced better, I promise.

_Jackson_

_ _

I’m so excited to show them this performance! I really wanted us to do this… and hopefully they agree… and let me record it and post it on YouTube. Ok, maybe I should’ve told them about that contest I entered us in. 

I run into the studio with my laptop. “Guys!” I yell, placing the laptop on the bench and facing them. “I really want us to do a cover of this!”

“A cover?” Yugyeom asked. “Don’t we only do our own songs?”

“Yeah, but…” I look around at my friends, just remembering that BamBam and Mark had joined us today. “This song is really cool, and I just imagined us singing and dancing this song when I watched it so… please?”

Jaebum sighs. “Just show us the video.”

“Ok!” I play the video, watching their reactions more than the video itself. I knew this wasn’t the usual dance we do, but this contest had rules. Round one: dance vogue. This Love by Shinhwa is perfect, especially for us. I knew which parts to give to each of them. Well, except for BamBam and Mark, but once they dance and sing, I’ll determine which part they can get.

Once the video finishes, they were all staring at the screen. I smile when Jaebum looks to me. “So, you want us to dance vogue? Any reason for that?”

“No reason!” I clear my throat. “I just wanted us to dance this… and maybe sing it… and maybe record it, put it on YouTube, win the contest that I entered…” My voice trails off when they all look at me. Jaebum was the one to respond, angrily of course.

“Contest?!” He yells, crossing his arms. He only crosses his arms to keep from reaching out to me and choking me; Jinyoung taught him that. “What contest did you enter us in?!”

“Uh… It’s a singing and dancing tournament… hosted by a popular group on YouTube… winners get a shoutout…”

“A shoutout?!” Jaebum uncrosses his arms. Oh no. “Are you kidding me right now?!”

“Uh…” I gulp when he gets closer to me.

“You entered this tournament without our permission, and you expect us to just practice this routine and record it?! I promised a long time ago that I wouldn’t hit you, but I feel like breaking that promise right now.”

“J-Jaebum-hyung…” I say, trying to back up but only trips and falls on the bench. “Wait-”

“We’re not doing this tournament, Jackson!” Jaebum growls, raising his fist.

“Wait! Wait!” I hold up my hands in front of my face. “The winners also get gift cards!!”

He raises an eyebrow and lets go of his fist. “Gift cards?”

“Yeah…” I whimper then clear my throat. “We each will get one gift card, $200 each. Runner ups get $150 each. Third place gets $100 each.”

“I mean…” Yugyeom says, putting a hand on Jaebum’s shoulder. “That’s a good deal, hyung. I’ll do it.”

I smile and look around at the others. BamBam was tugging on Yugyeom’s sleeve, also muttering agreements. Jinyoung had a troubled look, and I knew he was wondering how he could get out of being in the tournament. Youngjae was smiling at me, and he nods. I smile back and look to Mark, seeing a blank expression. Well… I’ll ask BamBam about him. “So?” I say, looking back at Jaebum. “Is that a yes?”

He frowns and looks around, most likely looking for Youngjae’s answer. When he sees the bright smile, he growls and turns back to me, knowing I won. “Fine. We’ll do this tournament, but you better be the one to take the time to teach us the dances because I will not lead that part.”

I get up from the seat and let out a joyful whoop. “I will do just that, hyung! I promise!”

“I’ll help with the vocal parts!” Youngjae says, jumping up and down before clasping his hands together.

~

_Youngjae_

_ _

I was watching a lyric video of This Love and really listening to the different parts to see which of us will fit each part. Hmm, the rapping parts will be hard to determine since I’m not one for rapping, and Jackson wanted to do a singing part which I have no problem with. He has a good singing voice, and one part in here I could definitely hear him singing.

The problem is he’s our main rapper. Yugyeom could easily do the rapping parts, but I don’t hear him rapping in this song. His voice really fits the singing. Hmm… “BamBam-ah!” I call to him, and he talks to Yugyeom quickly before heading to me.

“Yeah?” He asked, sitting next to me.

“Can you rap?”

“Well, I’m more of a dancer than a singer or rapper, but I can try.”

I nod, skipping to the rap parts at the end. “Here, learn these really quick and rap them back to me.” I hand him the headphones, and he nods as he puts them on.

As he listens to the song, he purses his lips. He looked… so cute! Aww, I just want to pinch his cheeks! “I really like the second one,” He comments, skipping back to the beginning of the second rap and mouthing the words. I wait patiently as he keeps replaying the rap and learning the words. After a while, he suddenly starts rapping, getting the attention of everyone in the room. I smile when he gets the rap down perfectly. He’s really good.

“How did I do?” He asked, taking off the headphones. When he realizes how silent it was in the room, he looked around at the others. Yugyeom was the first to start clapping.

“Wow! That was so cool! You didn’t tell me you could rap, BamBam!”

BamBam shrugs and laughs. “I didn’t know I could either!”

“Alright!” I say, hugging him. “You can do that rap then! I’m so happy, you have no idea! That only leaves the first rap!”

“Mark can do it,” BamBam replies which makes me look at him then at Mark who was sitting far from everyone in the studio. He narrows his eyes at BamBam before looking down at his phone. “Come on, Mark, I know you can rap! Besides, it’s a small part!”

He doesn’t answer. Oh, Mark, work with us a little will you? We promise we won’t judge you or make fun of you. We’ll be best friends! “Mark!” BamBam whines as he gets up and walks to him. “Come and learn this rap! You’ll get it in no time!” He puts his hands together. “Please?”

Mark looks to him and sighs, getting up and following him over to me. I smile and hand him the headphones, waiting for him to put them on before playing the song. I watch him intently as he listen to the rap and replays it like BamBam did. Unlike his cousin though, he didn’t rap out loud, and he even closed his eyes, rapping quietly to himself. I could’ve sworn that I saw something in his face… something other than the emotionless expression he always wore. He actually looked like he was enjoying himself. He didn’t have a smile, but that peacefulness he had while silently rapping made him look nice… Work with us a little, Mark; we promise we’ll be your best friends.


	6. BamBam

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the late update, my motivation has been off

As we get home, I throw myself on the couch in our living room and sigh. My body was tired from learning the dance. Since it’s vogue, it didn’t seem like it would be hard to dance, but that statement was utterly wrong. “So,” I say when Mark sits on the single seat. “How do you like the group?”

He takes out his phone and shrugs. Ok, so he kind of likes them. “Yeah, they are pretty great…” I continue, rolling on my stomach and pillowing my head with my arms. “I think Yugyeom’s pretty cool. He’s funny and really knows how to dance, I mean, come on! He’s pretty sexy when he dances.” Did I just say that? “Did I say sexy?! I mean cool! Cool, he’s cool…”

Mark glances at me with a raised eyebrow but doesn’t say anything and goes back to looking at his phone. I clear my throat. “Yeah… Anyway, Jaebum-hyung seems mean at first, but he’s actually a kid on the inside. Youngjae is really precious, huh? You can never say no to him. Jackson-hyung’s loud and doesn’t think before doing things, but he has a kind heart. Jinyoung-umma is… an umma.” I chuckle. “I see why Jackson-hyung calls him that. He’s caring and loves everyone in the group. Despite not wanting attention or affection, he enjoys it when one of the maknae’s hug him. I’m sure that if I start hugging him like Yugyeom or Youngjae does, I’ll soon be part of the little family of his.” I sigh and close my eyes. “What about you? Are you going to start hugging him, too?”

“Why would I?”

Oh? Not a disagreement? I open my eyes to look at him with a smile, but I don’t say anything. We sit there in silence before Mark stands up. “How about dinner? I’ll go make us something.” Then he walks away and into the kitchen. I wondered what he thought about Jinyoung… Maybe he wants to be his friend, and I don’t blame him. Jinyoung’s a really caring person.

I walk into the kitchen and see Mark taking out a pot and putting it on the stove. I wonder what he’s going to make, but I don’t ask him this since I’ve learned that whenever I asked him, he would tell me to wait and see. So… I’m just gonna wait and see. “Hm,” I hum as I sit at the table. “What can be swallowed, but can also swallow you?”

He stops what he was doing, and it only took him a few moments. “Pride.”

~

_When did you find out Mark-hyung was good at riddles anyway?_

I look up from the piece of paper Yugyeom handed me and think. _Probably a year after he moved in._

_A year? That’s quite a long time. Wait, you said moved in? He was living with you before you two moved here?_

Crap. Did I seriously break rule number 3? Yugyeom, you’re going to be the death of me, I swear. _Yeah, 5 years ago he started living with us. I was bored one day and looked up riddles to see if I could solve them. I started saying them out loud, and he ended up answering all of them correctly. That was the first time he ever spoke to me._

He had a look of confusion when he read what I wrote, and I immediately dreaded his response. _So after a year, he only talked to you to answer riddles? Don’t you think that’s a bit strange?_

Of course, it’s a bit strange, but I can’t tell you why I never thought twice about it! And I broke rule number 6! I need to stop talking about Mark right now before I say too much. _I guess so, but it’s understandable. Enough about that, what are your thoughts on this tournament Jackson put us in?_

He looked conflicted on what to do when he read my note. I wondered if he would still ask me about Mark since he seemed so set on it. I was relieved when I read his response though. _I’m excited! We get to show off our dance moves to the world, really. I have to admit, you’re an extremely good dancer. This song is perfect for you._

I could feel my cheeks heating up, and I glance over at Yugyeom to see him smiling at me. _And what does that mean?_

_It means you move really well with vogue. Your body can easily flow into those poses and look amazing!_

Yup, definitely turning red here! I bite my lip once I realize he was watching me as I read the note. Is he flirting with me, or…? _Are you saying you like my body?_

_Well what if I do?_

When I look at him, he winks at me with a smirk. I’m gonna die. The bell rings right at that moment, and I pack my stuff quickly. “Well, Bam?” He asks, standing in front of my desk. I gulp as I stop packing and stand up myself.

“Are you flirting with me?” I ask softly, biting my lip again. He follows the movement. Holy crap, why are you doing this to me?

“Yes, I am.”

I could feel my blush spreading to my cheeks, and I pack my stuff quickly and walk past him. “Hey,” He said, grabbing my arm, and I turn around to look at him. He looked worried. “Did I go too far?”

“No… I just…” I clear my throat. I’m getting too flustered! I could say something stupid or something I shouldn’t… Don’t you see what you’re doing to me, Yugyeom?

“If that makes you feel uncomfortable, then I won’t do it anymore.”

If me blushing and my heart beating fast means me being uncomfortable, then yes, you flirting with me makes me mega uncomfortable. I nod to him, not trusting my voice, and he nods back with a frown. “Ok, I’m sorry.”

We walk together in silence to our next classes. I may have been a little harsh, but… I can’t handle him flirting with me like that, especially if we’re around the others. Oh my gosh, I’m already head over heels for this guy! I’ve never had a crush this bad before. What am I going to do?

**Author's Note:**

> The first few chapters will be fast paced to introduce the characters, but after that, the pacing will slow down


End file.
